A few days ago BU highlighted the sorry state of local sports with real possibility the National Primary Schools Athletics Championships (NAPSAC) and the Barbados Secondary Schools’ Athletic Championships (BSSAC) are in danger of being cancelled – NAPSAC and BSSAC in Danger of Being Cancelled. The reason: the National Stadium track is under construction and has been unavoidably delayed. Incredible though it seems there was no contingency planned for this eventuality.
The result of the poor planning means that our two premier track and field championships which affords the opportunity of our young athletes to showcase their talent remains uncertain on the meet calendar. The Ministry of Sports and the National Sports Council should offer a public apology to ALL athletes who have to train everyday day with the mental anguish created by the doubt that BSSAC and NAPSAC will not come off. To repeat, the thought of a similar mishap occurring in Jamaica or Bahamas is unfathomable.
We should note that Ministers Ronald Jones and Lashley hastily held a meeting with stakeholders on Monday to determine how the two meets can be staged. No doubt they were busy doing other things. Early feedback suggests the National Stadium track may be ready in MAY which means if all goes to plan at this late stage the meets with have to be staged in the THIRD term. What incompetents!
What is heart warming is that despite the lack of priority placed on local athletics by key stakeholders, our athletes are still performing well when given the opportunity. This past weekend in Trinidad Barbadian athletes competed in the CARIFTA trials, and dominated the competition in all divisions. A check of the results show that Trinidadian athletes struggled to attain medals on home turf!
What is incredible is that the local media has not adequately promoted the performance of these young athletes . This would never have happened in Jamaica or Bahamas.
Follow this LINK to check the incredible results of our young athletes at the CARIFTA Trials in Trinidad last weekend. Take special note of the U17girls 100m and U20 girls 400m.
BU thanks former national athlete Jamal Miller who is currently coaching in Canada for bring this information to our attention.
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